Radiator-valve.



A. H. BUOKELEW.

RADIATOR VALVE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1912.

L1fi3,%8 Patented Jan.5, 1915.

WITNESSES IN l/E IV T01? l no rain rn'rn'r oruipu.

ALBERT H. BUCKELEW, on NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF TODAVID 1. ALBERCROMIBIE, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

RADIATOR-VALVE.

Application filed. August 8, 1912.

ing in Newark, Essex county, State of New Jersey, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Radiator-Valves, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,which forms a part hereof.

The use of automatic valves on steam radiators for the purpose ofpermitting the escape of trapped. air and for preventing the escapeeither of steam or of water, is well known. It has also been proposed toprovide an automatic valve which shall not only prevent the escape ofsteam or water, while permitting the escape of air, but also prevent theentrance of air intothe radiator and into the heating system when thegeneration of steam has been stopped and the temperature and pressurewithin the radia- \tor fall. Heretofore, however, devices which havebeen effective under these three conditi'ons have been more or lesscomplicated in construction and therefore not only expensive tomanufacture but difiicult to adjust properly and liable to get out oforder.

It is the object of this invention to produce a device, simple inconstruction and therefore comparatively inexpensive and not liable toget out of order nor difiicult to adjust, which shall operateeffectively under all three of the conditions named.

In accordance tvith the invention there is provided a suitable casingadapted. for connection to the radiator and provided with a single valvecontrolled port for communication with the atmosphere, and a singleoperating body to act upon the valve so as to permit it to open for theescape of air and to cause it to close to prevent the escape of steamand water and also to prevent the entrance of air when the pressurewithin the radiator falls below the normal. Such operating body consistsof a hollow metal body, light in weight, which floats with theaccumulation of water in the casing so as to close the valve, expandswith increase of temperature so as to close the valve, and also expandswhen the pressure outside of, the body falls below the pressure withinthe body, so as to close the valve, the valve being otherwise open topermit the escape of trapped air.

The invention will be more fully ex- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. s, iais.

Serial No. 713,975.

plained hereinafter with. reference to the accompanying drawing in whichit is illustrated and in which- Figure 1 is a view in vertical. centralsection of a valve constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2is a detail view in section on the line indicated by the broken line 2-2of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an underside View of the operating body.

The casing of the valve," in the construction shown, comprises a base aand a cap or cover 6 which is secured to the base in any suitable manneras by threading as at If. The base has secured thereto or formedtherewith a coupling member a by which the valve may be secured to theradiator, the chamber within the casing being in communication with theinterior of the radiator through a suitable duct or channel 0. the innerportion a of which is inclined, as, shown in Fig. :2, for a purpose tobe explained. The base a may also receive an adjustable plug 0 providedwith a seat or bearing 0 for the controlling body. The plug c may becovered by a screw cap 0 to protect it from accidental or mischievousdis turbance. The cap or cover I) is of such size and shape as to formwithin it a chamber 6 in which is received the controlling body. On itstop'it is provided with a cap or dome 6 preferably integral, which has asmall outlet as at 6 preferably in one side. Secured within the dome 6is a valve plug d, threaded or otherwise suitably secured within thedome, such. valve plug having a central aperture d which forms at itslower end the valve seat dfland itself being tapered, as at 03 so thatits upper end shall have a sharp edge rather than a flat surface uponwhich some hard particle might lodge and eventually drop into theaperture or bore 03' and clog it.

The controlling body 0 may be made in any suitable manner and of anysuitable material, preferably of thin sheet metal, so that it shall havelittle weight, and prefer ably has a flat bottom 6 and a dome-shaped top6 This controlling body is hollovv and may or may not contain a smallquantity of some highly volatile liquid, such as ether. This controllingbody is supported upon the adjustable step 0, preferably by a spindle 6which may be secured to the bottom of the body. A valve stem 7 passesthrough the top e of the controlling body and preferablyrests at itslower end, but loosely,

against the bottom e in a socket f. At its upper end the valve stem 7 issuitably formed to' cooperate with the valve seat (1 in the plug d.On'its underside the bottom 6 is formed with vanes e in any suitablemanner so that as the steam or air passes into the chamber 6 through theinclined part a of the duct 0?, it may strike the vanes and produce agradual rotation of-the controlling body and thereby maintain at alltimes theproper fit between the upper end of the valve spindle f and thevalve seat d when they are in contact one with the other.

In operation, the seat 0 having been so adjusted'that the tip of thevalve spindle shall cleai the valve seat d when the radiator is cold, sothat the entrapped air may escape as the steam is admitted to theradiator, the rise in temperature due to the admission of steam, whenthe air has been expelled, causes the controlling body to expand and thevalve spindle f to close the port- (1, thereby preventing the escape ofsteain; also, if water enters the chamber 6,

v the controlling body will float as the water accumulates and willcause the valve spindle to close the port d and thereby prevent theescape of Water; and furthermore,when the fire is banked and the steamgoes down, reducing the pressure as well as the temperature within thechamber 6 below the normal pressure within the controllingv body, thecontrolling body will remain in its expanded condition to thereby keepthe valve spindle against the port (2 and there fore prevent entrance ofatmospheric air into' the radiator and into the heating system.

It will be understood that the form of the casing and the form of thecontrolling body may be changed to suit difierent conditions and thatthe invention, therefore, is not limited to the precise form andconstruction shown and described herein.

I claim as my. invention 1. A radiator valve comprising a rigid casingwhich forms a chamber in communication with the radiator through a ductand provided with an outlet port, 'a controlling body floatable onaccumulated water in the chamber, expansible with an increase oftemperature and expansible also with a relative decrease of externalpressure, and a 'valve stem carried by the controlling body and normallyclear of the outlet port but cooperating therewith to close the valve asthe controlling body floats or expands, the inner end of said duct beinginclined and the controlling body being provided on its under surfacewith vanes to be acted upon by the steam or air entering the casingthrough said duct so that the controlling body shall be rotated, saidduct being inclined in the direction of rotation of the controllingbody.

2. A radiator valve comprising a casing forming a chamber, said casinghaving an inlet passage and an outlet port, a controlling body formed ofimperforate walls, a spindle secured to and passingthrough the upperwall and extending through said body to the lower wall, and adapted toopen and close said outlet port, a stem secured to the lower wall, vanesformed in a radial posi tion on the outer surface of said lower wall tobe acted upon by the fluid from the radiator to thereby rotate saidcontrolling body. 3. A radiator valve comprising a chamber composed of aplane bottom section and a cap secured thereon, a rib disposed on theunder side of the bottom section and in a plane parallel thereto, a ductformed in said rib and communicating with the chamer through an inclinedpassage in the bottom section and communicating also with the.radiator,a valve plug situated in the upper portion of the chamber provided withan outlet port therein, a member formed of imperforate walls and adaptedto expand and contract under a difi'erence of pressure, radial vanesformed on said member adapted to be actuated by the fluid passingthrough the duct in said rib, and said member cooperating with saidvalve plug. This specification signed and witnessed. this 6th dayofAugust A. D., 1912.

ALBERT H. BUCKELEW.

Signed in the presence of" W. B. GREELEY, WORTHINGTON CAMPBELL.

